Mr. Aidan Murphy:

Coming from Limerick, the Chair will know that we have done a lot of work in terms of the city. Both the NTA and the Minister are committed to the concept of moving a BusConnects into Limerick in due course. Right now, there projects are on track for Dublin and Cork. Regarding Limerick, discussions are taking place. In the interim, we are working with the NTA to improve, as far as possible, the infrastructure of the bus network in Limerick city. Bus Éireann has always provided connectivity between the intercity connections. That is why we have our Expressway services, which are completely commercial. While the X12 route was removed, there are other commercial intercity services operating directly from Limerick. We have now 14 main routes. We are still the largest commercial operator providing intercity connections in the State. Part of the strategy around Expressway is to ensure that interconnectivity remains, strengthens and grows. We believe we have for the future a strong potential to maintain that network, provide connectivity into the city connections and ensure, as far as possible, that interconnectivity is alive. In the pandemic, we have demonstrated that connectivity was critical. That illustrates the importance of what we are doing and our strategy in regard to Expressway and development of city services in Limerick and beyond.